Friday, December 2, 2011

I'm Alive: Part Two

As alluded to in my previous post a tornado ruined my day last May. Actually the last 6 months weren't a banner time. I was at work and knew a tornado had touched down and heard about some damage in town, but what I heard about wasn't in the vicinity of where I lived.

As I headed home my dread began to build though. The closer I got to the area I lived, more and more damage was evident. As I turned down the street I lived on there were emergency vehicles everywhere. The closest I could get to my place was two blocks away, but I could see the building. A building with no roof and trees down all over the place.

Amazingly there were no injuries or deaths as there were people in the upper level of the building when the tornado hit. I spent the next couple of days in limbo to the status of my place as it was deemed unsafe to enter the building. Eventually we were allowed in the building to salvage what we could. My losses actually weren't caused by the tornado itself, but by the rain storm that followed.

While I had renter's insurance it was inadequate to cover my losses. Lesson learned the hard way I guess. I never imagined I'd ever need it to tell you the truth. The coverage I had covered about half of what I lost. Sadly, as I talked to other folks who lived in the building, very few of them had any insurance at all.

Oddly enough (and thankfully) my rent was never raised. Actually my rent has never gone up in the 9 plus years I've lived here. The landlord did a super job on the rebuild and the place is very nice. My rent is $165 less per month than any new occupants coming into the building now. I definitely can't complain about that.

I've got all new furniture for the most part, but the place still looks somewhat bare to me. I finally figured out the other day what it was that was making that impression on me. I need more pictures on the walls. Too much blank white spaces, so I've still got some more money to spend over the next few weeks.

Any way.....

It feels good to be home and blogging again. I've got a lot to blabber about, including the infamous Worthless Co-Worker. (Why yes, she's back, and as loony tune as ever.) We'll be getting to that in the near future I assure you.

She back?! Seriously?! Well, at least I know we're in for some great stories.

Glad you're ok. I have an idea for those blank walls. Have that gorgeous grandbaby of yours come over, and let her loose with a box of crayons. I'm pretty sure there won't be much blank white space left. ;-)